INPLAY - Breda sit rock bottom of the Eredivisie following three straight defeats, and must show a marked improvement soon or risk being in last place over the winter break. On Sunday Breda have the home advantage against high flying Vitesse, but the visitors are in good form and will fancy their chances of claiming all three points and extending their unbeaten run to four games.

Groningen and Breda produced a seven-goal thriller at the Hitachi Capital Mobility Stadium last time out, despite many believing the game would end up being a typical relegation 6-pointer, nervy, hard to watch, and little to talk about after the final whistle. Mahi’s sixth minute strike set the tone for the afternoon as the Moroccan international put Groningen 1-0 up, but the teams went in all square at the interval after Rosheuvel’s sixteenth minute equaliser for bottom side Breda.

Breda actually took the lead through te Vrede in the fifty-sixth minute and for a very short time must have believed they were going to win the game, but Groningen responded in perfect fashion by levelling the scores two minute later through Doan and then went to score three more times in the final fourteen minutes to wrap up a 5-2 win. Breda were outplayed on the day and their defence seemed to give up once they went 3-2 down, something that is just unforgivable at this level of football.

Vitesse controlled most of the match against Emmen and took a deserved lead through Linssen just after the half hour mark, with a goal that proved enough to separate the two clubs at the interval. Emmen started the second half brightly and managed to force an equaliser in the fifty-first minute through Cavlan, and seeming content with a point, sat back, played narrow, and wasted time wherever possible. Vitesse tried their damnedest, but could not break down the Emmen wall and the hosts were left frustrated to have only picked up a point when they deserved all three.

Vitesse head into this weekends game as the clear form favourites with four wins, one draw, and one defeat from their last six matches, compared to Breda’s one win, two draws, and three defeats. The danger man for the hosts is striker te Vrede, who to his credit, has scored six goals in a team that isn’t known for creating a lot of chances. The injured Matavž remains Vitesse’s leading goalscorer in the Eredivisie this season with five goals, despite not featuring for the visitors since September’s defeat to Feyenoord.

I am confident that both teams will score. Four of the last six meetings between the two clubs have featured over 2.5 goals and seen both teams score, while both teams have scored and over 2.5 goals were produced in three of Breda’s and three of Vitesse’s last six matches. Breda haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last thirteen matches in all competitions and Vitesse haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last six Eredivisie games, and that’s why were expecting goals at both ends on Sunday.